Video shows three men killing murder witness in Sonepat

CCTV footage shows three masked men arrive on a motorcycle before two of them take turns to fire at Virender while he is attending to a customer.

indiaUpdated: May 29, 2017 14:16 IST

HT Correspondent Hindustan Times, Rohtak

A grieving family member calling for help after the incident.(Photo: CCTV grab)

A murder witness, Virender Kumar, was shot dead by three assailants at his barber shop in Sersa village of Sonepat district on Sunday night.

CCTV footage shows three masked men arrive on a motorcycle before two of them take turns to fire at Virender while he is attending to a customer. The assailants flee after firing in the air. Virender’s family that stays nearby rushes to his rescue but it’s too late.

The family said a customer was shot dead at Virender’s shop a year ago. Virender was the prime witness and suffered bullet injuries, too. Following the incident, he shifted his shop from the village outskirts to near his house and installed CCTV cameras. “Since he was the prime witness of that murder, he was getting threats to not record his statement. He defied the threats and went for the court hearing last month,” said his father, Jai Bhagwan.

The family alleged that the police did not take act against those threatening Virender. “We complained many times against the threats but the police didn’t bother,” the father said. “We dialled police helpline 100 for half an hour after the shootout on Sunday but got no response,” he added.

The family held a protest against the police inaction and refused to accept the body till Sonepat tehsildar Hitendra Sharma intervened and assured them of action on their complaints.

The family members were provided security after they revealed the identities of the murder suspects to the police.